Kim Anderson is out as Missouri's basketball coach, the school announced Sunday. Athletic director Jim Sterk said he asked Anderson to step down. "This decision has been very difficult for me personally because of the tremendous respect I have for Kim," Sterk said in the statement. "I know how hard he and his staff have worked to turn the program around over the last three years, however, the lack of on-court success has resulted in a significant drop in interest surrounding our program, and we could not afford for that to continue another year. "Kim has represented our program with character, integrity and class while dedicating himself to developing our student-athletes on and off the basketball court, and we are appreciative of his efforts and dedication to Mizzou and the Columbia community," he added. "Kim will always be a Tiger, and all of us are grateful for his contributions to our University as a student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach." Anderson took over a program in disarray after leading Central Missouri to the Division II national championship, but he went just 26-67 with the Tigers. That included a 7-23 mark this season. Their loss to Auburn in their regular-season finale Saturday was the program-record 35th consecutive road defeat. It left the Tigers 2-16 in the SEC, tying a program and conference record for losses. Anderson was a conference player of the year for Missouri before spending two stints as Norm Stewart's assistant coach. But despite his history with the Tigers, he never seemed to be embraced by an agitated fan base weary after the shaky tenures of Quin Snyder, Mike Anderson and Frank Haith. "Missouri is a special institution to my family and I, and I am grateful for having had the opportunity to serve as the head coach at my alma mater," Anderson said. "While we have faced significant challenges over the last three years and been unable to achieve the on-court results everyone would have liked, I do believe we have been able to stabilize the program while watching our players become responsible young men on and off the court." Missouri is the No. 14 seed in this week's Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville and will face Auburn on Wednesday in Nashville. Just before Anderson's predecessor, Frank Haith, left, the school received a verbal notice of inquiry from the NCAA - Anderson said he wasn't aware of the investigation when he was hired. And last August, the NCAA accepted the school's self-imposed sanctions over infractions involving its men's basketball program, but tacked on an additional year of probation through this August. The NCAA infractions committee panel's findings over what it said were roughly $11,400 in improper inducements and benefits given to players and a recruit by two boosters came nearly seven months after Missouri admitted NCAA violations dating to 2011. Hoping to blunt NCAA punishment, the school announced in January 2016 that it was vacating its 23 wins from 2013-14, banning itself from the 2016 postseason and stripping itself of one scholarship last season and a second scholarship no later than 2017-18. The school, while agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine, also permanently banned one unidentified donor who the NCAA said provided impermissible benefits to three players and one recruit in 2013-14. The benefits included compensation for work not done at a business through a summer intern program, along with housing, $520 cash, local transportation, iPads, meals and use of a local gym. The NCAA concluded that a second booster also provided impermissible benefits to 11 basketball players and three members of a player's family. Missouri has said those benefits included reduced rates at a hotel along with meals and a boat ride, and that a student manager provided transportation. More off-the-court troubles could be looming. In November, a former tutor resigned and publicly said she can document at least a dozen instances of serious academic fraud involving men's and women's athletes during a 16-month period. Yolanda Kumar said she felt pressured to keep athletes academically eligible - particularly football and men's basketball players - and at least two academic coordinators for athletes in revenue-generating sports encouraged, promoted and supported her activities. The school has said it is investigating the allegations.Courtesy of: usatoday.com

South Carolina is adding some immediate help in its follow-up season to a Final Four run. Wesley Myers (6'2''-G-95), a graduate transfer from Maine, is joining the Gamecocks' program, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Rothstein. The 6-foot-2 guard gives Frank Martin's team an instant infusion of scoring as they look to replace SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier. Myers 16.9 points per game last year on 43.7 percent shooting, including a 34.3 percent mark from 3-point ra... [read more]

South Carolina is adding some immediate help in its follow-up season to a Final Four run. Wesley Myers (6'2''-G-95), a graduate transfer from Maine, is joining the Gamecocks' program, according to FanRag Sports' Jon Rothstein. The 6-foot-2 guard gives Frank Martin's team an instant infusion of scoring as they look to replace SEC player of the year Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier. Myers 16.9 points per game last year on 43.7 percent shooting, including a 34.3 percent mark from 3-point range. He's the second grad-transfer Martin has picked up this offseason, joining Florida Atlantic's Frank Booker. The pair should help ease the transition from last year's success to a much less experienced team that returns just a pair of starters. Myers, though, doesn't arrive in Columbia without some notable history. Last year, after transferring to Maine from Niagara, was suspended after an altercation with a teammate, according to reports. He and teammate Marko Pirovic argued over locker room music, and the alleged ensuing altercation left Pirovic with a broken jaw, according to reports. Three other Maine players were suspended after telling a team athletic trainer that Pirovic had injured himself in a fall in the shower. Pirovic declined to press charges.Courtesy of: nbcsports.com

Top prospect Marvin Bagley III commits to Duke, to enroll for 2017-18 season - 2 days ago

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Marvin Bagley III(6'6''-F-99) III, who may just be the best basketball prospect in the world that is not in the NBA, announced on Monday night that he will be attending Duke and enrolling at the school for the fall semester. Bagley is the seventh member of Duke's 2017 recruiting class, joining top ten prospects Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter, another five-star recruit in Gary Trent Jr., four-star wings Alex O'Connell and Jordan Tucker, and three-star point guard Jordan Goldwire. The Ariz... [read more]

Marvin Bagley III (6'6''-F-99) III, who may just be the best basketball prospect in the world that is not in the NBA, announced on Monday night that he will be attending Duke and enrolling at the school for the fall semester. Bagley is the seventh member of Duke's 2017 recruiting class, joining top ten prospects Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter, another five-star recruit in Gary Trent Jr., four-star wings Alex O'Connell and Jordan Tucker, and three-star point guard Jordan Goldwire. The Arizona-native picked Duke over USC and UCLA in the end, but he also the likes of Kansas and Arizona also recruited him. Bagley has long been considered the best prospect in the Class of 2018 and one of the best prospects in all of high school. He's also already 18 years old, meaning that he is a year older than what you would consider a typical high school senior. Reclassifying, graduating early and enrolling in college means that the 6-foot-11 combo-forward is eligible to declare for the 2018 NBA Draft. And rest assured, that was the impetus for this decision. He's good enough that he'll likely end up somewhere on every Preseason All-American team that you see this fall, he'll join Michael Porter Jr. and Deandre Ayton as the odds-on favorites to be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and, at this point, it looks like Duke will once again enter the season as the preseason No. 1 team in the country.Courtesy of: nbcsports.com

Wisconsin got off to a winning start on its five-game trip to New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday, beating an NZ Breakers squad 85-75. The Badgers were tied 57-57 after three quarters but pulled away to win the first of their two games in New Zealand. Wisconsin, the alma mater of current Breakers shooting guard Kirk Penney, will next play a Breakers selection in Tauranga on Thursday before playing three games in Australia on the 12-day trip. Sophomore Brevin Pritzl (6'3''-G) led Wisconsi... [read more]

Wisconsin got off to a winning start on its five-game trip to New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday, beating an NZ Breakers squad 85-75. The Badgers were tied 57-57 after three quarters but pulled away to win the first of their two games in New Zealand. Wisconsin, the alma mater of current Breakers shooting guard Kirk Penney, will next play a Breakers selection in Tauranga on Thursday before playing three games in Australia on the 12-day trip. Sophomore Brevin Pritzl (6'3''-G) led Wisconsin with 27 points, while Ethan Happ (6'9''-F-96) added 17. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard used Brevin Pritzl, Happ, D'Mitrik Trice, Khalil Iverson (6'5''-G/F) and Alex Illikainen (6'9''-F) in a new-look starting formation. The team is building a new frontline around Happ following the departure of big men Nigel Hayes and Vitto Brown. The NCAA allows teams to make exhibition tours overseas every four years. Wisconsin's last overseas trip, to Canada in 2013 when it was also replacing much of its starting lineup, preceded the first of its back-to-back Final Four appearances. The Breakers have won the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) in four of the last seven years. Meanwhile, the Breakers will face the Cairns Taipans, Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers during the ANBL's Blitz preseason tournament from September 7-10 in Victoria. The Breakers will meet the Taipans and September 7 and Wildcats on September 9 at the Traralgon Basketball Centre in the Latrobe Valley, east of Melbourne, then the 36ers on September 10 in Whittlesea, north of Melbourne. "This will be an early hit out for us, with just over a week and a half together but while it might be a touch early for us in our preparation it is a good chance to bond together on the road as much as it is a chance to work on court," head coach Paul Henare said. The Breakers are close to confirming a preseason tour in New Zealand, with the announcement due in the next week.Courtesy of: stuff.co.nz

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